A Second Life
by MaoIsSleepy
Summary: Mao is an oridinary girl... mostly. After commiting suicide, Fate gives her a second chance at life, and this time around, it's in the Bleach world! The only problem is she has to keep to the plot, or Fate will kill her! Oc. I suck at summaries. Being Adopted by another author.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello! I'm really excited! This is my first fan fiction! I didn't make Mao after me, but we do kind of look alike. I just pictured her and didn't even make a connection. I would appreciate any advice! BUT NO FLAMING! And, okay, my OC is probably a Mary sue, but you know what? I don't care! This is my story, and my character, so I would really want you guys who flame about Mary sues to stay away. If you don't like it, don't read. Anyway, here you are! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, if this is on , I don't own Bleach**

Chapter 1:

Out of all of the 15 year olds that go to this run-down school, only one spent her summer watching anime. That's right, me. So while all of my friends- sorry, _friend_- were out working and swimming on the beach, I watched Bleach. Well, not just Bleach. I also watched the news. And it just so happened that, one day, that when I was watching the two simultaneously, I saw a story on the news.

"The damage of the crash is extensive," said a tall, German woman with a doll-like face. "There seemed to be only two victims, unfortunately, but the loss of life could have been much worse."

I paused the episode of Bleach I was watching and turned my attention to the television. I recognized the street in the background; it wasn't far from here. Grabbing my cell phone, I called my mom to see if she had passed the wreck on the way to the store. It seemed to ring forever. The women drawled on about some drunk driver, and a terrible car accident. I saw my neighbor on the screen in the behind the reporter, a shocked expression on her face. I heard my mother's voicemail began to speak, so I dialed again.

"The victims were well known residents of California, Eri and Ukata Kurokawa." I dropped my phone, now realizing why my mom hadn't picked up the phone after seven rings.

It was because both of my parents were dead.

Even after a whole month of crying, I didn't stop. I never even finished Bleach, though I did get pretty far. I was in the episodes that weren't even translated to English yet. But I just couldn't get into it, I was so depressed. In summary, my whole life was ruined. I had begun cutting myself, and the only reason I can say it so freely now is because I stopped. The physical pain was supposed to consume the emotional pain, but mine was too much. I hurt to even walk by our family portrait, so I just took it down. I lived in my old home with my aunt, but she was rarely home; usually out drinking.

One day I was staring at the butcher's knife my aunt Emiko had left out; all of our sharp objects were locked away, since my cutting. But Emiko had passed out while making dinner, and I just sat at our dining room table, hungry and looking at the knife...longing for relief... I grabbed the knife...and sliced my throat, killing myself instantly.

'I didn't think death would be like this,' I thought, as I floated in total darkness. It was disorienting, and I felt as light as a feather. Sometime later, what was probably hours, I heard a voice that would make your blood run cold. Not mine, though, since I was dead.

"Well, well, well... a suicide, ay?" I attempted to sit up, but found that I couldn't even twitch."Ah... Mao Kurokawa? Yes... fifteen, blonde hair, pale green eyes, parents died a month ago, haven't yet gotten over it. Interested in anime, mostly Bleach... and despite the way you died, you are a perfect candidate for a second life"

"Second life?" I asked, still in complete darkness.

"Yes... but you are an exception." It felt weird without being able to breathe.

"Exception...?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, you see, according to fate... you weren't supposed to die. You were supposed to change your mind about your throat, thinking it would hurt even more, and go for your stomach instead. In the end, you were going to survive, and become a famous author. However, if we give you a new life... apparently your next parents die also, and the suicide thing starts all over again, which would force us to give you your full memories, which we can't do, since that would be cheating. You need to experience life without...well, experience."

Under normal circumstances, I would probably be freaking out by now, but that voice... for some reason, it kept me calm, and mellow. I didn't feel a hint of fear, or excitement. 'Was I really supposed to live?'

"So," the voice continued, "You have two options: One, you could go back to your life before, several moments before the... incident with the knife, or, two, you can pick a body, one without a soul, of course, and go to another world. Which is it?" Could I really...?

"Wait," I said, something hitting me. "The world I would go to... Do I get to pick it?" The voice sighed.

"I don't see why not. Does that mean it's option two, then?" I laughed dryly.

"Not much of a choice, now, is it?"

"What do you mean?" It asked, sounding genuinely surprised. I could feel myself smirk.

"Well, obviously, I was so unhappy in my previous life, so why would I want to go back, especially if I could pick where I can live?"

"I don't think you understand," the voice sounded smug, like it had proved me wrong somehow. "You have to pick a world that already exists. You can't just spin one out of thin air." Now it was my turn to be smug.

"I already know what world to pick, and it _does _exist."

"Oh?"

"Yeah... how about the Bleach world?"

"Very well," the voice responded, after many moments. "Now... about your body... What do you want?"

"What I want?"

"What do you want your body to look like? I might not be able to get one you want exactly, because we aren't making one, we're taking and empty one." I contemplated this for a moment. What do I want to look like for the rest of my new life?

"Surprise me. I didn't get to pick my old body, I don't want to pick now."

"Are you sure?" the voice... maybe a man? He questioned, "You'll look like this for the rest of your life.

"I'm sure," I confirmed, feeling my head nod.

"Open your eyes," He commanded. I obeyed, blinking from the lack of sight for so long. Everything was still completely black, so I didn't see what the difference was. But in a few moments a light flickered on, one much like a stage light, and a body floated in the middle. I felt a shiver run down my spine; the girl in front of me was obviously dead, and her eyes were open.

She had rather pale skin, but I suppose that was because she wasn't living. She was almost my exact opposite. Her hair was long, almost to her waist, and it was pitch black, like the night sky. Her lips were rosy, despite the lack of blood flow. Her eyes were an unusual, sparkling gold. Unlike Yoruichi, who eyes were gold like a cats, her eyes shone with a shine, almost like they were made of glitter. I smiled.

"Perfect."

"Her name is Hotaru Shirishi. Think you can remember that?" The man asked, sounding amused. I smiled for the first time in months.

"Definitely." He laughed cheerfully.

"Alright then," he continued, "You can go. Hotaru is already there. You'll just wake up in her body. No one should recognize her since she comes from different world, too. Okay? Time to go." Hotaru's body began to swirl unnaturally, as if she and the space around her were water going down the drain.

"Oh, and one more thing," the man said, just as my eyes grew heavy again and began to shut. "The way Hotaru died... well, it was pretty similar to you. So don't be surprised when you wake up and..." His voice was drowned out in a swirl of darkness.

The next thing I saw when I woke up was the starry night sky. The next thing I noticed was the searing pain. It _hurt. _It was worse than any other stubbed toe, or hangnail. I thought I was going to fall unconscious again, it was that unbearable. But then I realized exactly where I was.

"Karakura town..." I breathed, sitting up, and instantly regretting it. The pain was in my throat, so I reached up to touch it. When I brought my hand back down into my line vision, it was dripping with blood. I tried to scream, but it just came out as a gurgled grunt. I was sitting in the middle of a sidewalk, a white fence bordering the house to my right.

With a great effort, I managed to stand and lean against the fence, stumbling. I felt my blood leak down my neck and onto my shirt. Speaking of which, my shirt was different. I wore a black tank top with a white, leather jacket with a red stripe on the sleeves. My pants were just tattered cargo shorts, which went past my knees because they were too big. They were actually flattering, in an 'I don't really care what I wear' look.

I held my hand against my neck to try and stop the bleeding (it didn't help, the blood just dripped between my fingers). I kept heading straight, staggering and slipping in blood, until I saw something familiar.

It was the vase of flowers Ichigo set out for that ghost in episode one. The girl wasn't there, but I knew it was hers. I took a right turn at that corner heading to Ichigo's place. I remembered that his family owned a clinic. Hopefully I could get help, though I doubted I would die. You know, since I just got back and all. This... injury was probably more of a hospital thing, but I didn't know where it was. I was pretty sure that the clinic was closer, anyway.

I thought I would never make, until I saw familiar orange hair unlocking the door to a house.

"Help!" was what I was trying to say, but I'm pretty sure it came out like a yelp. It got his attention, though. When he first turned his head it didn't seem to hit him: that there was a girl there, probably with blood all over her shirt front and neck, trying to get to the clinic. But in seconds his face looked horrified.

"D-dad!" he yelped, dropping his school bag, and rushing towards me. I just about fainted when he caught me. "Dad!" he called, helping me limp towards the entrance of the clinic, right next to the door he was unlocking a few moments before. "Help!" Then there were footsteps, and gasps, but I don't really remember, because the moments I was brought into a room with a bed, I passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi! Well, this is chapter two! Sorry chapter one was so short, I just thought I found a good spot to end. Again, Mao is probably a Mary Sue.**

**There are also going to be more than one Oc, including Mao's zanpakto. Enjoy!**

Opening my eyes, I saw white. That annoying, heavenly white that you wish you could turn off because it got in your eyes. Obviously, it was now morning, and I found myself in a hospital bed. There were bandages around my neck, trailing all the way to my stomach, and down my arms. I thought it was a little overboard, but not even I knew the extent of the damage.

Looking at my heads, I knew that I wasn't dreaming. They weren't _my _hands, they were Hotaru's.

The room was very simple; white wall, floors, sheets, clothes, and even the door. There was a mirror hanging on the wall, so I got up slowly and tested my strength. I was dizzy, and my head and neck were sore, but I managed to huddle over to the mirror. I nearly fainted again.

I was _in _Hotaru. I _was_ Hotaru. My hair was pitch black, and I was about three inches taller than I was before. Not only that, but my arms and legs felt... lighter, stronger, and faster. _Different_. I had never felt so in shape. I looked my new body in the eyes and- Wait! My eyes weren't gold like before. Well, my left eye was. My right eye was the same pale green as my old body's. It was odd, having two different eyes, but they complimented each other.

Suddenly the door creaked open, revealing the head of Isshin Kurosaki, who for once seemed serious. He knocked on the door and I turned towards him, still inspecting my bandages. He made his way to the bed and sat down, patting the spot next to him, motioning for me to sit there. I didn't move. I only looked him in the eye.

In my old world, I wouldn't talk to a single adult: not even aunt Emiko. I never did simple things they ask, just to be stubborn. Just to make a point; that I was _not _on their side. I guess old habits never die fast. Isshin gave up the patting, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well," he began, "whatever happened, I think I should tell you the damage." He stood up to make the moment more serious. "Your esophagus was severed, along with your voice box. I managed to close the wound, but there will still be scarring tissue. Normally, that kind of risky procedure would have to wait until we got you to a hospital, but you would've died by then. You should recover, for the most part, but..." He gave me an empathic look. "There is too much scarring. You may never be able to speak again."

Was that it? Honestly, I had just lost my parents, my old life, and came back alive as another person entirely. I really stopped caring about myself, which is saddening. Something hit me. I made a rectangle in midair, and then pretended to write with a pen. Isshin seemed to understand, and slipped a pen out of his coat pocket. He dug in his pants for a few moments, and pulled out a scrape piece of paper.

There was a document on one side, so I flipped it over and began to write.

"I don't have any money." He nodded.

"I didn't expect a child to. Here," he plucked a cell phone from his pocket. "What's your parent's number? I'm sure they are worried sick-" He stopped when he saw me scribble something new.

"I don't have any parents." He dropped his cell phone back, and his eyes softened.

"That's okay. Do you have anywhere to stay?" I hesitated. I didn't want any charity, I didn't want any help, but this would hurt more than just my pride. I shook my head, no. He crossed his arms, his demeanor suddenly changing. "Well, then. Since I didn't deliver you to a hospital and since this action caused you to permanently lose the use of your vocal chords, you have a good case to sue me." I looked up at him, dumbstruck. Was he serious? "In that case," he proposed, "The surgery was unauthorized, and free of charge. I will let you stay in this room until you are able to find a suitable living space." I blinked, what he said not fully hitting me.

I was going to _live _with the Kurosaki's? Well, in their clinic. But _still, _I thought I was going to jump up and down, and maybe even hug him. For a moment, I forgot about my parents. I forgot that I was nowhere near my home, and that I could never turn back.

"Oh," Isshin remembered, "What's your name?" I grabbed the paper, and instinctively wrote "Mao". I nearly screamed at myself, how stupid would he think I was if I changed it? He would probably think I'm lying to him. Thinking quickly, I wrote my last name: My new one.

"Mao Shirishi. I like that," he said reading. I realized that that _was _my name; I was neither Mao Kurokawa, nor Hotaru Shirishi. I was someone new, and I hadn't messed up when I wrote Mao down.

So far, I was liking my second life a whole lot more than my old one.

Since I was still extremely weak, I spent the next three days in bed. Every mealtime, Yuzu would bring me her homemade food (which was delicious, by the way. Ichigo, you lucky Bastard.) And one day Karin brought me the Karakura school uniform, saying that I would be going there next week.

"Dad already entered you, so you have to go," she said in a bored tone, "sorry." She was about to leave me to examine my uniform, when she stopped. "Oh, and you can just use sign language, if you know it. They teach it almost everywhere around here." I smiled softly (I seem to be doing that a lot, lately).

"Thank you," I signed, to which she replied with a much bigger smile.

"don't worry about it."

The Kurosaki's had, apparently, come up with a master plan to tell everyone, explaining why I was living with them all of a sudden. According to Yuzu, who visited me every day, I was a foreign exchange student, from a different Japanese island, who would be staying until graduation. I think they thought I was sensitive on the whole experience of having no parents. They were right.

"You're also in Ichigo's class, so if he bothers you, just tell me, okay? I'll set him straight." She threatened, carving me a slice of the apple we were sharing. Ichigo still hadn't visited me once, but I didn't mind. Yuzu told me all about him. I giggled, or at least, I tried, since I couldn't make a peep. Yuzu didn't seem at all put off by my oddness, though she did point out that my scar, on the neck, could be distracting, and could cause questions. Speaking of questions, I wondered why she hadn't asked me what happened the night I stumbled upon them.

Yuzu had given me a black ribbon to tie around my neck, so that I could hide my wound. I rather liked it, and thought it made me look like an anime girl. Which, I guess, I now was. I signed my thanks, and, afterwards, she left.

My first day of school was also the first time I was Ichigo again. I had stopped staying in bed all of the time days ago, but whenever I would wander about the house, he would be gone, probably at school. On the weekends, he just stayed in his room. I missed the few times he went out (which was not to eat supper with his family, mind you), much to my disappointment.

But he couldn't avoid me now, because he had to lead me to the high school.

We walked in silence, not surprisingly. I mean, it's not like I'm much of a talker, if you get my pitch, and neither was Ichigo. It wasn't really a bad thing, the silence. It was enjoyable, and I kept myself busy by memorizing the way.

When we finally stood outside of the classroom, Ichigo finally spoke.

"I'll go get our teacher, you stay here," he mumbled, disappearing. We were the last ones here, and the bell rang before Ichigo came back.

"Alright kids," a woman commanded as she opened the door, revealing the classroom. I was pretty sure no one could see me yet. "We have a new student, so behave extra good today," she announced in a motherly tone as she lead me to the black board. "If you could write your name on the board," she said, handing me a piece of chalk, "that would be great." She then sat down as I turned around and wrote: "Mao Shirishi."

I faced the class, smiled shyly (and hoping I looked like a cute anime girl), then moved my hands.

"My name is Mao Shirishi. I'm a foreign exchange student from another part of Japan. It's nice to meet you all." There were a lot of surprised looks.

"Is she Deaf?" I heard one girl murmur.

"I don't think so, she heard the teacher. She just can't talk," replied her friends. I looked at Ichigo, who looked indifferent, then at Orihime, who was smiling. And looking adorable. I always liked Orihime. I was pretty sure I sweat dropped when I saw Keigo. He had hearts in his eyes, like with Rukia.

I took a seat in the back, and then zoned out for the rest. I never really cared much for school, and Hotaru seemed like she didn't either.

When the bell rand for lunch, I pulled out the bento box Yuzu had made for me. I hadn't even picked up my chop sticks when I heard a hideous noise.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MAO-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" I looked up to see Keigo running full speed at me; arms spread open, about to embrace me. Then he was arm hanging in the neck by Ichigo. My hero. I had jumped up, ready to do some kung-fu action. I relaxed when Keigo was on the ground, crying anime tears.

"Do I know him?" I singed Ichigo, who sweat dropped.

"Sorry about him. You'll get use to him."

"Hey, Ichigo," Tatsuki greeted. "Hey, Shirishi-san." I smiled my best cutesy smile.

"Mao is fine. You are?" She pointed to Orihime, who was behind her.

"This Inoue Orihime, and I'm Arisawa Tatsuki. Just call me Tatsuki, too, okay?" I smiled ever wider, then nodded.

"And call me Orihime," Orihime said, sweetly. I nodded again. "The scary one on the ground is Asano Keigo, by the way." She then hooked her arm around mine, like we were old pals. "Would you like to sit with us?"

And that was pretty much the whole month.

One day, on the weekend, while Ichigo was in his room, and the others were busy in the clinic, I wandered around town. I still had so many questions for that faceless man; I had forgotten most of them. Today was probably the first day I was completely alone since I woke up in Hotaru's body. I decided to find somewhere that I could go in case I wanted to be alone again, and ended up discovering an abandoned house.

I was just lying there, in a pile of debris, when I heard it. The unmistakable wail of a Hallow. I jumped to my feet, alarmed. It sounded extremely close, like it was in the room with me. I thought my ears were going to bleed.

And strangely enough, there was blood, dripping on the floor next to me. I froze, and turned around.

And then I screamed.

The Hallow lashed out at me, sending me flying. I hit a wall, which was all the way across the room a second ago. There was a rattling sound when I hit the ground, but my vision was so blurry I couldn't make it out. The Hallow made booming footsteps until it was meters away from me, blood dripping from its mouth. There was still a human arm stuck in its teeth. It had a long, tentacle-like limb sprouting from its head, and I recognized it instantly.

"Grand Fisher," I mouthed, my vision coming back. The rattling sound began again as I attempted to stand up. It was then that I realized I had the Chain of Fate protruding from my chest. My body was laying about a foot away from me, unmoving.

'Well,' I thought. 'I'm totally screwed.'

"Not quite yet," came a familiar voice, seemingly from nowhere. It was the man, the one who gave me a new life. I looked around for him, but when he spoke again, I realized it was in my head. "I probably should've done this earlier, but try to stand up."

I did so, but not with ease. "Good, now close your eyes, and imagine a sink." I did, not saying, or thinking, anything. "Now turn it on," he commanded, and I obeyed.

Something warm flooded over me, and then I felt a strong gust of wind. When I opened my eyes, I froze, completely amazed. I was wearing a Soul Reaper robe. But mine was white, with black trimming. I looked like Hichigo. Then, looking at what I held in my hands, I totally began to freak (On the inside, of course.)

I held two zanpakto. They were both in their sealed form, which were ordinary Katanas, but they were different from one another. The one in my right hand had a black hilt, and a white blade, but the sharp side was tinted red. The one in my left hand had a white hilt, black blade, and a red side.

Me? I freaked out. Especially when I heard two voice in my head; one male, one female.

"Alright!" They shouted in unison. I realized that the male zanpakto, the one in my right hand, was the faceless man. I had no idea who the female was.

"Let's kick some giant Hallow butt!"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N****: ****OMG! Well, I'm on the third chapter already! When writing chapter one, I felt like I was talking to myself in the A/N. My eternal gratitude to QueenPersophoneofHades! Your reviews really meant a lot to me! Enjoy!**

Chapter 3:

"Let's kick some giant hallow butt!"

I have no idea what happened exactly. Somehow, something inside me just surfaced. I felt something that was underneath the surface, something within my core, just arise. It was a new sensation, and suddenly I was witnessing Hotaru's essence. I saw her childhood, her parents, and her world. I saw how she trained, becoming a Soul Reaper. I had thought she wasn't one, a Soul Reaper, because she wasn't from this world. She wasn't, but Hallows still existed. I felt her experience, her skill, automatically flow through my veins. Hotaru was a _Soul Reaper. I_ _was a Soul Reaper._

Hotaru Shirishi and Mao Kurokawa ceased to exist. It was me now, and I was about to kick some Grand Fisher butt. That is, until he chickened out.

"A Soul Reaper? No... You're something different." _'What strong spiritual pressure,_' He thought, realizing something. _'It's that girl from before; that Paladin'_. He disappeared. How could something so big get away from me so quietly and quickly?

I was about to go after him, when someone stopped me.

"You can't kill him," said the girl in my head.

"You have to let Ichigo face him," the familiar boy concluded. "You'll die if you don't stick to the plot." I froze in my place.

"WHAT?" I shrieked, in thought. "I'm going to die?" I felt panic rise. Then the two chuckled/giggled simultaneously.

"No, you misheard us. Fate will only kill you if you change the plot."

"Okay," I breathed, totally confused, "Mind explaining?"

_**Long explanation**_

"So," I thought, crossing my arms, and sitting cross-legged on the creaking wooden floor of the abandoned house. "You're telling me that I have to stick to the plot of Bleach so Fate won't notice that I came here with knowledge of the future of this world, and you never took my memory, or Hotaru's, because you liked me, and you came here as my zanpakto, part of me, because you want to help me stay under Fate's radar, and Fate will kill me for disrupting the natural order because I knew the future, and that would get him-"

"Her," my 'zanpakto' interrupted. "Fate is a women."

"Right, so _she _would be killed by the Grigori and- you know what? Start over, I'm lost."The boy sighed, and the girl giggled.

"The most powerful beings in the universe are the Grigori, fallen angels. They're kind of like the Royal family to the Soul Society but much more powerful. The only one who really ever sees them is Fate- she's like old man Yama, authority wise. Then you have us," The boy explained.

"We're like captains, we are known as the Seven Deadly Sins. Underneath the Sins are the Paladin's- That's what you are. They are like the seated officers, and squad members." The girl continued, in a sweet, childish voice. "My friend here," she said, referring to the boy, "Takes care of the dead. He passes them on to their resting place, or next life. It's like the Soul Burial, except he is the only one who can do it."

"I could've gotten in trouble, but I couldn't have sent you to the part of Bleach you left off at; you would've been picked to the bone, even with Hotaru's skill. So, I put you here, and as long as you don't change the order in which things happen, Fate shouldn't even notice." The boy continued. "So, why don't we talk face to face?"

I was about to say something, when I felt dizzy. The next thing I knew, I was falling down, and then everything was black.

I opened my eyes moments later to a dark sky. I was lying in soft prairie grass, which spread on for miles. Standing, I noticed two things; one, everything to my right was light, with green grass, a shining sun, extravagant meadow flowers, and a very blue river flowing through the base of a hill off to the distance. And, two, everything on my left was dark and gloomy; the sky was lit by the moon, and the grass was tinted blue. The river, which was flowing in both worlds, was as black as obsidian. In the middle, where the two sides met, was a weeping willow tree, as tall as a house. In front of the tree, and holding hands, was a boy and girl.

The boy had green eyes, and black hair, which covered his right eye. He was on the light side, smirking. He had on a black men's kimono.

The girl had long blonde hair, that was in a braid down her shoulder. She Had glittering gold eyes, like Hotaru, and she wore a traditional white kimono gown, decorated with pale pick butterflies. They were an odd sight, and I knew they were my zanpakto.

"You know what to say, right?" The girl asked. I smirked, looking at them with confidence.

"You've already told me," I spoke. _I spoke_.

"You are my zanpakto. You are Sloth, and you are Wrath."

Over the last few weeks, I trained with Wrath and Sloth in my inner world. It was surprisingly easy, with Hotaru's experience. She was already at captain level when she died.

Speaking of which, when I had first gained my Paladin powers, I saw what had happened to her. It was mortifying.

_**Flashback**_

_Hotaru sighed heavily as her katana sliced through the hallow. _

_"How many of them are there?" She wondered aloud, sheathing her Katanas."This is at least the tenth one in the hour." She stood up straight in a dignified manner and made her way in the opposite direction of the dissipating Hallow. Not a second later, she heard another bellow, and instantly a Hallow appeared. In a heartbeat, Hotaru was in a fighting stance, just about to slice the Hallow to bits. That is, at least until it talked._

_"Heh, look here. A women. You smell nice." The Hallow was extremely large, and had a limb sprouting from its forehead ."I wonder how good you taste."_

_Then a battle began. Hotaru swiped with both her Katanas, simultaneously, slashing away the tentacles that Grand Fisher shot out. Then she flash-stepped behind him and lashed out again. The large limb on Grand Fisher's head quickly wrapped around her ankle in midair. She whip-lashed back, then hung limply by her foot._

_"Too easy." Grand Fisher laughed._

_"That's what you think," Hotaru smirked, slicing the tentacle, though her Katana did not go completely trough as she had intended. It did, however, loosen its grip, dropping Hotaru in a free-fall. She did a flip in the air and landed gracefully on the Hallow's back._

_With her face down, she began to chant, growing louder with each word until she was almost yelling._

_"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wing, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado, 31! Shakaho!" Arching her back, Hotaru leapt into the air and pointed her hand at Grand Fisher's mask. A red ball of fire blasted at him, making smoke billow everywhere._

_Hotaru landed, smirking. Suddenly, a figure stumbled out of the cloud of smoke._

_"Nee-san..." A little girl with black hair coughed, blood running down her lips. "Why did you hurt me?" Tears began to spill from her eyes. Hotaru's eyes widened and pained expression was on her face._

_"Yoru..." Hotaru just stared, unable to comprehend what was going on._

_In the instant Hotaru let her guard down, a tentacle shot out of the cloud._

_Hotaru didn't even see it coming, and it speared her in the throat. She let out a pained cry, blood spurting everywhere. Still, Hotaru stared at the little girl until the smoke cleared away, revealing the top limb._

_"But it was so real..." Hotaru thought, slipping in darkness._

_Grand Fisher's menacing laugh was the last thing she heard._

_"Yoru..."_

_As soon as the body went limp, the Hallow leisurely approached her._

_"This one smells especially good," He thought, leaning forward. Then, as sudden as lighting, her body was gone, leaving a shocked and hungry Hallow behind._

_**End**_

I shuddered at our shared memory. Yoru... she was my sister, too, now. Taking a deep breath, I stood from my sitting position in the abandoned house I visited every day after school to train with Sloth and Wrath.

'Grand Fisher...' I thought, clenching my fist. 'I'll let you live, but only for Ichigo's sake.'

It was when I sat alone, tired and daydreaming, in my hospital bed, that I hatched my master plan...

'Let's just hope everything goes smoothly.'

The day the plot started was like every other. I went to school with Ichigo (who seemed to be warming up to me), ate lunch with Orihime and Tatsuki, and was on my way home with Ichigo, again.

I really didn't know when we would get to episode one, but the moment I saw the gang of boys knock down the familiar vase for the little girl, I knew it was time. Over the time I had been staying with the Kurosaki's, I tried to pretend to be somewhat... weak? No... Cutesy? Well, I tried to act like Orihime; sweet and innocent. So, when Ichigo knocked the first of five men out, I hid behind him, supposedly scared. Psh.

"You got a death wish, Punk?" the 'leader' questioned, trying to sound intimidating.

"No one jumps one of my boys for no reason and lives to tell about it."

Ichigo, who was standing just so I couldn't see his face, stood with a hand on his orange head.

"Hmmm," he mumbled indifferently.

"That's all you got to say?" Exclaimed the man, as he throw a weak, predictable punch at Ichigo. I almost laughed as Ichigo kicked him to the ground and continued to stomp on him.

The other men panicked. When Ichi (I shall call him so, from this point on) smashed the 'leader's' head into the cement, he finally spoke.

"Now listen up, you pond scum! Do you see that?" He pointed at the knocked over vase.

"First question," he asked the three remaining men. I almost heard the music.

"What do you think that is? YOU! THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE! ANSWER!"

The man, going pale, pointed at himself nervously.

"Wait, you talking to me? I guess somebody left those flowers for some kid who got killed here," he answered, hesitantly.

In a flash, Ichi kicked him under the chin, sending him down.

"CORRECT!" I began laughing hysterically but no sound came out. I guess I was getting slightly board with all of this plotlessness. 'One down two to go; C'mon Ichi, let's go!' Wrath sang in my head.

"Next the next question," Ichi continued menacingly. "That vase over there; why is it lying on its side?"

"I guess one of us knocked it over when we were skateboarding through..." one man answered, shaking in fear.

Ichi viciously kicked both men several times, sending them sprawling.

"You guys caught on fast. NOW GO AND APOLOGIZE OR ELSE THE NEXT TIME THE FLOWERS WILL BE FOR YOU!"

The men ran away screaming, no less, crying 'I'm sorry!'

"There, that should keep those punks from showing their ugly faces around here." He murmured in satisfactory. He then turned around to the newly appearing ghost girl.

Ichi knew I could see ghosts; much to his surprise. He had had huge eyes, along with Yuzu and Karin. Isshin had given me a suspicious look, but kept silent. I had just nodded to all of their questions incoherently, giving my best cutesy smile. That was about a month ago.

"Sorry about all that. I'll bring you by some new flowers tomorrow."

"Thank you for coming to my defense. I think now I'll finally be able to rest peacefully."

Ichi slowly bent down and turned the vase upright. Now that I thought about it, if it wasn't for that vase, I wouldn't even be here. I would have never gotten to the clinic, and I would have never met Ichi.

"No problem," Ichi said politely. "It's the least I could do. After all, you deserve to rest in peace." He spoke, turning around and beginning on his way home. "Let's go, Mao."

As the sky grew dark, and Ichi and I were almost home, I began mouthing some words, just for the sake of it.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm fifteen years old, so I'm a high school student. My family runs a medical clinic here in town: maybe it's because we're entrusted with the lives of the living-not sure-but for as long as I can remember, I've been able to see the souls of the dearly departed." Ichi turned around, seeing me talk to myself.

"Sorry, Mao, did you want to tell me something?" I laughed silently, then shook my head.

'I'm mouthing the words to a poem.' I signed.

"Well, okay then. Goodnight," he waved, opening the gate to his lawn. The clinic door was a few feet to the right of it. I waved, heading into the door. Even so far away, I heard all of the commotion happening as Ichigo arrived through the door. I leaned against the wall, listening.

I heard Wrath giggle.

"Rukia is coming tomorrow, right?" Sloth questioned, sounding quite a bit like Shikamaru, from Naruto.

"Yes. It all starts tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm super sorry it took me soooo long to update. I was having trouble with my computer, plus I can't write every day. Again, super sorry.**

**Thank you so so so very much: QueenPersephoneofHades, X-tremeFighter2000, and StarTrail. I extremely appreciated that you took the time to read and reveiw my story. It is because of you that I actually feel like writing this.**

**Please enjoy!**

The next morning, I got up early. I didn't think I slept a wink. The whole time I got dressed, I heard Wrath giggling like a manic, even when no one was talking. I felt giddy, too.

Sloth only yawned. So far, the day was pretty normal. I went into the house for breakfast, witnessing another familiar scene.

The T.V. was reporting the fallen building sight. In that moment, Ichigo opened the door, fully dressed, while I sat with Yuzu and Karin, watching the television.

"Hey," he greeted no one in particular.

"Good morning, Ichigo," Yuzu smiled, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"Morning." He made his way to the table and grabbed a piece of toast.

"Where's dad?"

"Early meeting," Karin explained nonchalantly. "He said he'd be late tonight, too."

"Again, huh?" He sighed, putting the toast in his mouth. The T.V. caught his attention; the 'accident' still being broadcasted.

"Something bad happened?" Yuzu questioned, noticing the smoking building on the news.

"That's near here..." Ichi mumbled, the toast hanging from his mouth.

"Don't we walk by there every day to school?" I signed, trying to looked worried. Ichi nodded.

"Speaking about school, we should head out.

. . .

After Ichi had gotten a new vase, with small, yellow flowers, we were out. We really did pass the damaged area, but Ichi didn't give it another look.

I stopped outside the alleyway, peering through the yellow tape.

"Mao," Ichi warned. "Let's go." I looked up at him, nodding and jogging shortly to catch up. I think he thought I would be sick to my stomach to see the damage. Aww! But I've so many movies with so much worse than property damage... plus my parent's car...

We stopped at the familiar corner, Ichi calling for the little ghost girl. When no one appeared, we heard it. The cry of a hallow. But Ichi didn't know that.

"Stay here," he commanded, sprinting down the road. Psh. I could tell acting so week was going to get annoying. We ran- Wait, you didn't think I listened to him, did you- as fast as we could to a busy part of town. I had to work hard to the keep up with Ichi. My soul may be trained, but my body sure wasn't.

People were rushing past us like a river, but we kept pushing through, trying to understand what was happening. Ichi, at least. I thought it was extremely brave of him to go towards the trouble, even though there was really nothing he could do. Sorry to steal your thunder by following.

We were forced to stop when a building collapsed in front of us, billowing everywhere.

In which, as it faded away, Ichi laid eyes on his first hollow.

In which the hollow let out a roar that would make me pee my pants if I had no idea what would happen next.

"Wow, what the hell is that?" Ichi wondered in shock, not really asking me. Staying in my persona, I gripped his sleeve.

"Help me!" cried the ghost girl, appearing from the smoke. She headed straight towards Ichi, but then passed him.

"Hurry!" he cried, as all three of us took off.

'Wait...' Wrath kicked in. 'What was the point of running up to the hollow in the first place, if we were just gonna run away instantly?'

'Please, don't ask.' Sloth pleaded. The hollow preceded to chase us.

"What is that thing?" The girl squeaked.

"I don't know!" In that instant, she tripped.

Ichi stopped running. He rushed back to her; there was no way he was leaving her behind. I went back, too, helping her to her feet as the hallow got closer, and closer... Until there was no way we would escape.

And Ichi didn't even notice the delicate, black, Hell butterfly flutter in front of his face. His eyes were on the Soul Reaper clad in black, as she floated in front of the hollow and drew her sword.

Blood splattered as she slashed its mask, destroying it. Then she landed, and charged again, slicing it all in half. It dissipated in an instant, and Rukia stood on the ground, sheathing her sword all awesome like.

"Wow..." Ichi gasped, me grabbing his sleeve again. I had let go to escape.

Rukia glanced back, but then disappeared as the people who witnessed everything (though they couldn't exactly see anything), wondered back to the streets.

Ichi tried to get her to stay, but she was nowhere in sight.

He stared at the damage for a few seconds, until he snapped out of it.

"Are you okay, Mao?" I nodded slowly, trying my best to look as freaked out as Ichi. I kind of actually was; it was so different from watching that in the anime...

Going to school felt rather strange.

. . .

I felt slightly upset I missed what happened in Ichi's room, when Rukia explained what a hallow was.

'Well, at least you saw it in the anime..." Sloth comforted, as I lay in my bed inside the clinic (much like Ichi when Rukia walked through his wall).

'But Sloth... I haven't seen it! I want to know what happens!' Wrath shrieked.

'It was really funny!' I thought. 'Rukia explains to Ichi the whole hollow -mumbo-jumbo by drawing bad pictures, and Ichi says they suck.'

'Oh!' Wrath giggled. 'Go on!'

'She had him in a kido and she drew a mustache on him.'

Wrath's giggling made me smile.

Finally, I heard the hollow's cry as it searched for Ichi. And in a few seconds, I heard Karin scream.

I leaped out of bed and rushed outside. The hollow was dangling Karin in its hand.

"Ah! Put me down!" There was a whole in the wall, and the hollow was several stories high, so I leapt to the house, opened the door, and ran besides Rukia, who was watching me in one eyes, and the beast in the other.

'She was with that boy earlier... can she see me, too?' Rukia thought, turning her attention back to the monster. She would deal with the boy and girl later.

I was frantically signing, asking the most innocent questions I could think of.

"Where's Ichigo? What is that thing? Why do you have a sword? Who are you? Are Yuzu and Ichigo alright?" I was signing so quickly that it was sloppy, and I'm sure she couldn't understand.

Suddenly, Ichigo rolled down the stairs in a crash. I ran to his side, pretending to check for the binds I knew weren't there.

"Stay out of it!" Rukia demanded, snapping at me and Ichi. He tried to crawl, or maybe stand up. I helped him the best I could but there really wasn't anything we could do.

"Damn it!" He swore in frustration, finally getting to his feet. Rukia stared at him in wonder.

Ichi rushed in front of Ruki (I shall call her so, from this point on), with me trying to grip his sleeve to stop him. I failed, but then remembered that I can't stop him anyways.

'Oh, yeah. It really is different than from watching the anime...' I thought, slightly upset that Ichi could get hurt.

"Fool!" Ruki cried in annoyance. "You'll only get in the way!"

"Shut up!" Ichi shouted, determined to save Karin no matter the cost. "Karin!"

He began to struggle from his bonds, grunting with the effort.

"Stop! The kido is too powerful for you to break. You'll only cause damage to your soul!"

With a mighty cry, Ichi freed himself in a flash of light. Then, like the brave, heroic... headstrong, idiot he is, he rushed the hollow, grabbing a stool and raising above his head.

I sucked in a gasp so loud I'm sure Ruki heard the air. The hollow swatted Ichi away like he was a fly. Then it turned to him.

I rushed to the hole in the wall to get a better look, and started crouching.

"I've found you!" The hollow boomed, raising a giant fist. He tried to grabbed Ichi, but he jumped away, hidden by the debris. As the hollow was recoiling his hand for another strike, Ruki leapt in and attacked him. She sliced his forearm, nearly in half, and landed. The hollow roared, and dropped Karin.

Ichi had to slid to catch her. The hollow disappeared in rage.

"Karin!" Ichi cried. I climbed down the side of the house (good thing I was wearing pants), and jumped the last few feet. I preceded to dash up to Ichi and take Karin from his arms, checking her pulse.

Even though the family owned a clinic, Ichi had little medical knowledge; that was more of his sister's department. Yuzu took it upon herself to train me, so I could help in the clinic.

I didn't need to do anything to know she was going to be alright, even though she was unconscious.

"Don't worry," Ruki comforted, both me and Ichi. "She'll be alright. The hollow left without devouring either of your sisters' souls."

"Are you sure?" Ichi questioned, concerned.

"Yes. It's seeking a specific soul to eat; one with a much higher concentration of spirit energy... In fact... the hollow earlier... was hungry for that soul, too, not the girl!"

"But why?" Ichi pleaded. I put a hand on his sleeve, trying my best to comfort him. He looked totally freaked out.

"For some reason most of your spirit energy was hidden deep within you until now; when you needed it to save your sister. That's why I didn't sense anything unusual about you when I arrived!" Ruki concluded, unknowingly weighting Ichi's conscious. "It also explains why the hollows haven't come after you. The spirit energy you have bottled up inside you started to pour out when you made contact with that one girl's ghost. As a result, your soul became exposed. Those two hollows today detected your soul through that girl, and they were using her to track it down. Which means..." Ruki turned around, adding suspense for the big reveal. "The hollows are really after you!" Ichi looked horrified.

'That was cruel!" Wrath exclaimed.

'Tell me about it," Sloth commented.

"Those things... want me?" Ichi spit out. I gripped his arm tighter.

In an instant, the hollow returned with a bellow.

"It's back! Get out of here," Ruki commanded.

"No," Ichi insisted, "so the vicious attacks on that poor girl were because of me?"

"That's one way to look at it."

"And now both of my sister's could wind up dead and the whole is my fault?" He gritted his teeth. I barely noticed he had stood up, with me still on my knees with Karin. As Ichi ran forward, I tried to grab his pant leg, but I was too late.

'I need to stop doing that. One of these times I'll actually succeed.'

Ichi ran right in front of the hollow, despite Ruki's protests.

"Coward! Quit attacking others. It's my soul you want; come and get it." He declared darkly. "Fight me one on one, you ugly bastard!" The hollow attacked in rage. I wouldn't have seen Ruki take off if I hadn't known what would happen next.

The hollow's open mouth clamped down... on Ruki's shoulder. Blood sprayed on the sidewalk, staining it.

'Blood...' Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. It looked like the stained on my parents' car...

Ruki sliced the hollow's mask and broke free, bleeding profusely. She collapsed, in front of a shocked Ichi.

"Soul reaper!" He cried.

"You..." she groaned out, "Are a fool. How could you possibly have thought you were any match for a hollow?" She breathed, heavily. "Did you really think that everything would be over if you'd given your soul? One soul doesn't satisfy them for long." She struggled to lift up her head. "If you don't stop interfering we're all going to end up as its food!"

Ruki managed (somehow) to drag herself up to a nearby telephone pole to lean against. "I'm too injured to fight..." She choked out.

The hollow was still crying in pain, holding its face. "Do you... want to... save your family?"

"Of course I do!" Ichi said, as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet. It kind of was. "If there's a way, tell me how!"

"It will only be temporary, but..." Ruki continued, clutching her sword and angling it upwards. "You must become a soul reaper yourself!"

"Wha?" Ichi's eyes widened.

"You must take my Zanpakto and run it through to the center of your being, so that I may pour my power into you," she clarified.

"I can't guarantee that you'll live, but if it doesn't work it won't matter."

"Then give me that blade... Soul Reaper."

"My name is Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki."

When Ichi grabbed the sword and aimed for his stomach, I rushed out of his yard, to his side (I put Karin against the house), and gripped his sleeve, like I always did. He looked out of the corner of his eye, hopefully seeing my worried face, and not my excited one.

"And my name is..." The hollow charged, twice as angry as before. "Ichigo Kurosaki!" He guided the sword through his core.

It was a good thing no one heard me scream.

**A/N: Hi! Okay, I just thought I should add that until Mao actually hatches her plan, everything will be very similar to the anime. But I promise I will change it up later on. I probably won't reveal what Mao's powers are until much, much farther on, when she can actually use them (you can thank Fate for that). I most likely won't reveal the full extent of Mao's plan until after the Rescue Rukia arch, either. Just thought I should put that. I appreciate all reveiews; more than appreciate, actually. And I would also like some pointers or ideas for the future of this story. I already have everything planned out, but some pieces just don't seem to fit. Thank you, all!**

**~MaoIsSleepy **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**A/N: Hello! Thank you, all of my reviewers! You have no idea what it means to me that you took the time to comment, let alone read my story. I understand that my writing skills leave something to be desired, but I'm working on it! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5:

The light blinded me as Ruki's zanpakto went through Ichi's stomach. I braced myself, but was sent flying to the ground next to Ruki, who was now in a plain white Hakama. I looked up at the hollow; blood was spurting from its arm, which then fell to the ground. I almost threw up, and I was pretty sure I didn't look very good.

The smoke and light disappeared, and left Ichi standing in the soul reaper outfit, and the largest zanpakto Hotaru had ever seen. I looked to Ruki.

"How could this have happened?" Ruki asked herself. "I meant to give him only half my power, but he nearly took all of it!" She exclaimed, staring at her hands in wonder.

"This ends now!" Ichi declared, gripping his newfound sword tighter. He began charging at the hollow, and I actually heard Ichi's theme song playing in the background. I began to watch Ruki again, remembering what she was thinking in the anime. I smiled, then began mouthing what she had been thinking.

'What kind of being is he? I've never seen a human with spirit energy this strong; that's what was jamming my senses before. I've never met a human with enough strength to break the Kido on his own. And I've _never_ seen a Soul Reaper wield such _huge _zanpakto!'

Wrath laughed when Ruki looked at me. She probably couldn't read my lips, so I was fine. I looked at her, trying my best to look horrified. I guess I was becoming quite the actress. She gave me a grim look, but otherwise paid more attention to the fight at hand.

Ichi managed to slice off the hollow's leg, and blood poured out. I tried to cover my eyes. Ichi eyed the beast as it began to fall.

"You will pay the price for hurting my family, you hollow scum!" He cried with menace. "Feel the wrath of my blade!" He raised his sword and cut down on the hollow, severing its mask and destroying it. Ichi was still in his totally amazing finishing stance by the time I stood up and rushed to his side.

He looked up at me with relieved, and kind eyes. Tears came to my eyes. Why was I such a baby? I knew he was going to be okay, but I couldn't help but worry. What if my presence managed to change something important.

"Hey, Mao, you okay?" A sob choked in my throat.

'Idiot,' I signed, collapsing in a hug.

. . .

I woke up when I heard a crash. It came from Ichi's room. I leapt out of my bed, with Wrath laughing and Sloth yawning in my head. I was still in my PJ's; a white tank top and red short, not to mention messing hair in a bun, but I rushed to the front lawn and dashed up to the side of the house. The entire Kurosaki family was standing in awe, even Ichi, who had known what had happened.

"It's a miracle!" Isshin exclaimed. "A truck plows right into our house and none of us even get so much as a single scratch!"

"What's more miraculous," Karin dead-panned, "Is that none of us even woke up when it happened."Ichi stayed silent, wondering just exactly what happened. "Mao," Karin asked, "Did you wake up?" I jumped a little. That kind of happens to me when I hear something that's not from the actual anime. I shook my head quickly, signing that I was sleeping like a baby. Everyone started heading back into the house.

. . .

On the way to school, I was signing to Ichi like crazy.

'Did you forget like the others? Did that really happen? How did you get back to normal? Do you think another hollow will come?' Ichi shook his head as we entered the school.

"I don't know, but I don't think we should tell anyone about this, okay?" I nodded in agreement, stopping my hand motions so no one will ask me what I was talking about. Well, sort of.

I was following behind Ichi slightly, trying to remember what happened next. Then it hit me; no, it actually hit Ichi. He bumped into Orihime, sending her to the ground.

'That's right,' I thought. 'This is the episode they introduce Orihime and the gang.'

"Oh, it's you." Ichi acknowledged indifferently. Hey, Orihime." Tatsuki jumped all over him for not apologizing. I bent down to help Orihime, who was apologizing profusely, like Ichi _should_ have been.

'That was rude..." Sloth yawned.

'Ichi tried to keep this 'tough guy' act up at school. You know; teenage boys.' Wrath giggled.

"Sorry about that; you going to be alright?" Ichi finally asked a nodding Orihime. "Here," he held out his hand, since I hadn't helped her up all of the way, yet. Orihime began to laugh nervously, spewing something about volleyball, and running away. The three of us looked after her in confusion (Well, not me, anyways.)

"What's the matter with her?" Ichi asked no one in particular. Oh, Ichi, you're so naive.

"What could it be...?" Tatsuki pondered. "Maybe it was your ugly mug. By the way, why are you two so late? I mean, it's almost time for lunch already?" Tatsuki pressed.

"Don't worry about it," Ichi assured. "I'll tell you later." He began walking away, so I followed (I was beginning to think of myself as a dog.). Yeah, like he was going to tell her _ever_.

. . .

In our classroom, Keigo began asking Ichi annoying questions. At least that wasn't knew; Keigo being annoying.

"Hey, Ichigo! I heard a truck crashed into your house last night, dude!"

"Pretty much." I sat several desks away from them, ease dropping. I was pretty sure Chad, Keigo, Mizuru, and Ichi didn't want to spend lunch break with a girl, but I didn't want to miss this.

"So, did you clean it all up yet?"

"What, are you kidding? It's going to take forever!"

"Need any help?" Chad offered.

"That's... okay." Ichi didn't even notice the black headed girl approach his desk. Quickly, I jumped up from my seat and hustled over to him, touching his shoulder to get his attention as Keigo cracked a joke about Chad's side. He looked at me just in time to see Ruki stop walking.

"Hello, you Ichigo, right?" He looked like he was punched in the stomach. "I'll be sitting next to you from now on. My name is Rukia," she said, oh-so-politely. Ichi sprang to his seat.

"I-it's you!" He shouted rudely, looking at me to make sure he wasn't the only one seeing her. I gave him a grim nod.

"Hey, Ichigo, what's wrong with you?"

"You two know each other?"

"Course not, we've never met before. Isn't that right, Ichigo?" Ruki said innocently.

"Rukia's a brand new transfer student," Mizuru explained.

"Nice to meet you," Keigo greeted.

"It's a pleasure," Ruki smiled, holding out her hand to Ichi. He look at the hand incredulously.

'Make a scene and you are so dead' it read. Two voices in my head began to laugh hysterically, and my body began to shake. Luckily, no one could hear me, but Ichi caught my movement in the corner of his eye.

"Hey, what the hell is so funny about that!" He exclaimed at me.

. . .

"Alright, you freaky little nut job, what the Hell do you think you're doing Ichi accused, later on when it was just him, Ruki, and me.

"How scary!" Ruki exclaimed. I was still shaking with laughter. "You big brute. Jeepers! You're not going to hurt me, are you?"

"First of all," Ichi began, pointing at her. "You better knock it off with that goody-two shoes act, Okay! Mao, stop laughing!" He snapped. The only thing I did to subside my laugher was but my hand over my mouth, even though that did nothing. I guess it was a habit.

"I think it's pretty good, considering I learned it over one night!" Ruki teased.

"Oh right, forget it, so tell me just what you're doing here now, anyway. Weren't you suppose to be going back at your Soul Society place, or whatever t was?"

"I can't," I finally managed to stop shaking, especially when Ruki got serious. "Only a Soul Reaper can go to the Soul Society. I haven't the power to return anymore."

I remembered something about Hotaru's past. She had once lost her powers for three day from a fight with a hollow, and she couldn't go back to her home, either. It wasn't the Soul Society, or anything, but it was in the world where Wrath and Sloth were form. That world was coexisting with this one, and my old one. Hotaru had transformed into a normal soul when her very core was injured, and she wasn't even by herself, like Ruki. There were ten other Paladins, and they just left her there to die in whatever world they were in. She survived, and returned, but her trust towards others was completely tarnished; I guess no matter how cruel the Soul Society may seem, there was always crueler.

Ruki continues to explain her situation, and her Gigai. I zoned out, kind of board. I was interrupted when Ruki told Ichi he had to take over for her, and continue killing hollows.

"No way!" Ichi shouted, putting his hands in front of him in an X formation.

"What?"

"My monster fighting days are over, that was a one-time deal." I sweat-dropped.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ichigo, you did just fine yesterday!" Ruki encouraged.

"That was only because my family was in danger," Ichi pointed out. "But it's not like I would do that for complete strangers, or anything." Yes you would. "Sorry to disappoint you." He began walking away. "Let's go, Mao." I began to follow him, but stopped when Ruki spoke. Ichi turned to look at her, only to see her charging at him. His eyes opened wide as Ruki separated his soul from his body.

I ran to his body, pretending to be freaked out when I was actually laughing on the inside.

"AH! CRAP! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BODY! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" He exclaimed.

"Follow me." Ruki commanded, in a voice that not even I would argue with. Which was really too bad.

"Mao, take care of his body." She didn't even bother looking at me protest. They left me there, with a dead body, pouting.

. . .

When they returned, I made Ichi apologize to me profusely before I forgave him. Even still, I pretended to give him the cold shoulder, when I had actually stopped caring. He was still saying he was sorry (and saying it was Ruki's fault) when came across some mayhem on the way home.

First there was the squelching sound of tires, then falling sound. Ichi stopped talking, and together me, Ruki, and Ichi rushed to the fallen Orihime.

"Hey! Are you okay, Orihime?" Ruki asked, dropping to her knees to help her up.

'Did you just hit by a car?' I asked, signing in disbelief. She smiled sweetly at us.

"Oh... maybe..."

"What do you mean, 'maybe'? Are you going to be alright?" Ichi questioned in disbelief.

"Hmhmm! It was just a little bump on my head, don't worry! I'm fine!" She assured, in a sing-song voice. "I swear!"

"You sure you're okay?" Ichi eyed her, looking doubtful. "Where did that car go? That hit you?"

"Umm..." Orihime thought. "It drove off!" She concluded, in a way too happy tone of voice.

"Orihime!" Ichi sweat-dropped. This only caused her to apologize, leaving a confused Ichi.

"...Well...Alright...As long as you're okay then..."Ichi blabbered, scratching his cheek. Orihime seemed to notice the short, black haired girl, who looked rather intimidating, for the first time.

"Ru...kia?" She asked hesitantly.

"That's right, and just who are you?" She asked coldly. Ichi whispered her something fierce about manners, and names, or something. Realization become apparent on Ruki's face.

"Oh, of course, Orihime!" She curtsied."How are you?" I sweat-dropped, but returned to my serious manner when I remembered the mark on her leg. I didn't really focus on anything until I saw Ruki notice, too. I shot her a look when she asked Orihime about the bruise on her leg.

"Oh," Ori (I shall call her so, from this point on) said, just seeing the mark for the first time. "I guess that happened just now when that car almost hit me."

'Does it hurt?' I signed.

"A little bit," She admitted, "But I'm okay."

"You sure?" Ruki crouched down to examine Ori's from a better point of view.

"What's the matter, Rukia?" Ori wondered. "Is anything wrong?" Ruki panicked.

"Ah... right, well, take care!" I sweat-dropped, again.

. . .

We walked in silence until we got to the hillside. The sun was already setting, and I was walking beside Ichi, his sleeve in my hand. Ruki finally voiced her thoughts.

"So that girl," Ruki began, "are you close to her?"

"Ah, not really; but Mao is." I nodded. "I barely know her, and we don't really talk much. She's friends with another buddy of mine, too, so I see her around. Although..." He trailed off in thought, "around three years back or so, her older brother, Sora, was in this terrible accident; he died in our clinic." I shivered. Did he die in the bed I sleep in now?

"What?" Ruki asked, looking grim.

'He was in a car wreck, and he was the only family she had.' I told Ruki, dropping back behind Ichi (and letting go of his sleeve) so she could see me fully.

"I never really realized she was the girl I saw crying that day..." Ichi though aloud. "I found that out just recently."

"How intoned to the spirit realm were you?" Ruki wondered.

"Not as much as I am now. I mean, it's been only recently that I've been able to fully see and communicate with the spirit realm."

"What about you, Mao?" Ruki turned to me.

'Oh, umm... same here. But I wasn't here when Orihime's brother passed away.' She tilted her head to the side.

"How long have you been staying with the Kurosaki's, then?"

'About four months.' Ruki looked confused.

"But you two seem so close." I laughed silently.

'I'm just a loveable person.' Ruki's expression softened, but then she went on ahead.

"See you later."

"Hey, where are you going?" Ichi demanded.

"Home," Ruki dead-panned.

"And where's that?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"I guess not."

"Then don't ask me." She mocked, walking away. Ichi walked her leave, being really irritated.

She disappeared from sight, so Ichi and I just kept on our way. After an eternity of silence (I really wish I could do something about that) when Ichi decided to break it.

"Hey... Mao. Umm... well, see, my dad made this rule that no one was allowed to ask you what happened to you that night, but..." I smiled softly, looking at the ground. That had been very kind, not to mention helpful, of Isshin. "What _did_ happened to you?" I stopped walking and let my bangs cover my eyes.

I had thought about what I would say if one of them asked me that, and I really wanted to sell my performance. At least it wasn't a full lie.

'Back then, on that night... I really had no idea. I was walking home from my part time job- that I quit- when I heard some kind of monster roar.' Ichi's eyes widened.

"Y-you mean... it was a hollow?" I nodded.

'With a long fishing hook coming from its head' I swiftly continued to walk, Ichi following after me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." I turned back at him and smiled, still walking.

'I'm alright.' We continued in silence. For the first time, I realized that I had sounded just like Orihime.

And we all knew how much Ichi, or even myself, had actually believed her.

'I believed you!' Wrath comforted, her voice cheery and childish. Sloth snorted.

'I didn't.'

**A/N: Yes! Chapter 5! This took me a while! Thank you sooooo much, to my reviewers! WOW! That was my longest chapter ever in this fan fic! I really can't wait until I get farther alond in this so I can do more explaining. I feel like I left everyone confused, or like I left something important out. Just ask if you have any questions. Till ch 6!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello! Chapter 6! Woo Who! I'm sorry for all of my mistakes, but I use a program that auto-corrects every once in a while. Thank you to all of my reviewers! I finally made it to double-digits! I'm so happy! Enjoy!**

**Chapter: 6**

That night after supper, I helped Yuzu clean the kitchen. We finished quickly, with me doing the dishes and Yuzu picking up the table and sweeping. I really felt like helping, so I didn't mind. I just wanted an excuse to go hang out in Ichi's room when Rukia shows up. So when Yuzu asked me if I knew where her PJ's were, I said no.

'Why don't we ask Ichigo?' Yuzu nodded, and I followed her upstairs. I was about to knock, but she opened the door before I had the chance.

"Hey, Ichigo, you haven't seen my pajamas, have you?"

"Yuzu, c'mon!" Ichi complained. "Knock before you come in here!" Yuzu grew irritated.

"Well, sorry I asked! You've been so mean since you've started high school!" Ichi dead-panned.

"Have not. And I don't know where you pajamas are."

"That is just so odd," Yuzu huffed, talking more to herself. "One of my dresses have gone missing, too."

"Why do you feel the need to ask me about every little thing?" He complained. "Do I look like I care?" Yuzu rolled her eyes.

"'Kay, goodnight." She left me standing by the door way. I crossed my arms , trying to make Ichi feel bad, and tapped my foot.

"What?"

'That wasn't very nice,' I signed. Ichi sweat-dropped. Then the two of us heard a beeping coming from the closet. I smirked when Ichi wasn't looking. Luckily, I had thought to wear my street clothes and not my PJ's; I was planning on joining Ruki an Ichi tonight. Ruki slid the door open, looking alert.

"Hey, Ichigo!" It would be an understatement to say Ichi flipped out.

"WHAT THE HEACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?" I pretended to be surprised, too, but I didn't say anything (for obvious reasons). Ruki leapt out of the closet (in Yuzu's PJ's) and landed next to Ichi's bed.

'Are those Yuzu's PJ's you got on?' I asked incredulously.

"I'll explain later," Ruki said, digging in her pocket for her Soul Pager. "We've got orders."

'Orders?' I questioned. 'From the Soul Society?' Ruki nodded grimly.

"We're not alone," she warned, putting on her glove. She then preceded to (against Ichi's protests) separate his soul and body. In the same motion, she pushed Ichi's body off of his bed, taking his soul along with it. She followed, shouting. "Get down!"

The hollow opened the Garganta right where Ichi use to be sitting. It dragged itself into his room in an agonizingly slow pace. I grabbed Ichi's body and dragged it back to the door. I didn't leave, however; I only clutched Ichi's unconscious form on my knees.

"What are you standing around for? Do something!" Ruki ordered. The hollow, still not fully emerged, stepped on Ichi's bed, crushing it. It lunged at them as the Garganta closed behind it. "You have to aim for its head!" Ruki instructed. Ichi drew his blade and leapt in the air with a battle cry. He tried to bring his sword onto the hollow's head, but the giant thing crashed a hole in his ceiling. I tried to protect Ichi's body, and myself, from the debris. The hollow dodged the attack, and swatted Ichi away with its tail.

He landed with a thud, but rolled back up, his sword in hand. The hollow swiped for him, but he jumped up at the last second and sliced the hollow's arm. It roared in shear agony.

"You need to focus; don't just swing your sword around!" Ruki commanded.

"Shut up!" Ichi snapped, breathing heavily. "Who cares as long as I kill it?" He charged again, and this time managed to cut into the mask. However, it was too shallow, and the hollow grabbed to blade with his bare hand. The two struggled, but Ichi managed to creak the mask. It crumbled to reveal an eye... a human eye... Ichi gasped, turning pale. The hollow disappeared, screaming in pain. I laid Ichi's body neatly on the ground, then jumped up and signed like a madman.

'Ichi! Did you recognize him? I've been to Ori's house, and I've seen pictures. Was that... Do you think...' Ichi nodded hesitantly at me: we'd probably left Ruki confused. She shook it off.

"It's getting away; let's go!" She ran to the window, but stopped when Ichi didn't move. "Ichigo? What's the matter?"

"Something's not right." Ichi grimaced.

"What?"

"I got a look at that thing's face; and it was Orihime's dead brother!"

"Are you certain?" Ichi nodded, then looked to me.

"Mao thought so, too." Ruki eyed the two of us, then looked away.

"Here's a word of advice; when attacking hollows, come from behind and cleave their heads with one blow. Don't forget, it's basic theory for any Soul Reaper."

'What do you mean?' I questioned, my hands shaking slightly. Acting was coming much, much easier than before.

"It will keep your injuries to a minimum... also, with any luck, it will keep you from learning the hollow's identity.

'What do you mean, the identity?'

"You two just saw for yourselves; do you understand? Hollows were once souls of human beings, no different from anyone else." Ichi looked like his entire world came crashing down. I don't know why (I think I forgot), but I failed to look the same. I didn't miss the suspicious look Ruki shot me.

'She's onto you!' Wrath giggled.

"You never told me that!" Ichi accused. "So that thing I saw was just a monster, wasn't it? It was just some beast from that underworld that needed to be wiped out!"

"That is correct," Ruki spat coldly. "He is just a monster now; and he must be destroyed."

"But... it was human once." Ichi choked.

"It can't be helped. Souls that hold onto feelings of resentment or regret will sometimes resist Konso and linger on alone in this world. Should that happen, they either become hollows on their own, or they art devoured by other hollows and become one of the fold." Ichi closed his eyes and thought.

"These hollows..." He asked grimly. "They can hurt the living, too..." He glanced at me, and I felt his gaze linger on my neck. I knew he couldn't see the scar; I still wore the black ribbon, but I couldn't help but adjusting my collar so that is was hidden completely. I didn't even notice Ruki giving me a curious glance.

. . .

The moment Ruki realized the hollow would go after Ori, Ichi was off.

'Wait!' I signed, rushing to Ichi's side and grabbing his sleeve with one hand. Ruki was already on his back, piggy style. 'I want to go, too. I don't know if I can do anything, but I want to help Orihime! She's my friend, too!' Ichi looked at me sadly.

"Sorry, Mao," he apologized. "But I think you should stay here." With that, he leapt out the window, leaving me behind. I sighed.

'I _cannot _wait until I reveal my powers to Ichi and Ruki', I whined in my head. Wrath giggled that girly, slightly annoying laugh of hers.

'Neither can I!'

. . .

As Ichigo carried Rukia through the roof tops, Rukia's curiosity got the better of her.

"Ichigo..." She began.

"Yeah?" He asked, breathing heavily.

"What... What happened to Mao that caused her to lose her voice?" Ichigo didn't speak for a long time. Rukia suddenly felt bad about even asking. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"Nah, it's okay, but I'm not so sure I should be the one to tell you." Rukia nodded, though Ichigo couldn't see.

"I understand-"

"But Mao isn't really the type of person to care about that. When I first met her, I was just getting home from school. She was bleeding pretty bad from her neck; I think she came to us because she knew about our clinic."

"So, she was attacked? She wasn't just born like that?"

"No," Ichigo explained, "We didn't know it at the time, but..." Ichi paused.

"But...?" Rukia pressed, although she knew she shouldn't.

"She told me she was pretty sure she was attacked by a hollow." Rukia's eyes widened.

"A Hollow? Well, I guess that sort of makes sense." Ichigo looked back at her.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You haven't noticed?"

"...Noticed what?"

"Mao has an extremely high spiritual pressure, just like you. In fact, if you two looked more alike, I'd say you were siblings." Ichigo continued going full speed ahead. He never noticed Mao had such a large spiritual pressure; he barely knew what that was!

"Hurry!" Rukia yelped.

"Right!"

**A/N: Sorry it was so short! I'll update my next chapter as fast as I can, Alright? BYE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A****/N: HELLO! I'm so excited... but just so you know, after I get the episode(s) with Grand fisher in it, I'm skipping to the episode with Uryu, then Ruki is gone! Please, I love, love, love reviews! I'm super sorry for any mistakes in advance. Enjoy!**

Chapter 6:

The next day, I ate lunch with all of the girls in my class. Ori was telling her ridiculous story on her side of the events the night before, despite the disbelief from the other girls.

"What happened was a Sumo wrestler with a gun blasted a hole through the wall into my room last night!"

"Huh? Orihime, please, if you're going to make up stories, at least make them sound realistic, like..." I stopped paying attention and looked around. Standing side by side, I saw Ruki and Ichi, so I waved to Tatsuki (the only girl who noticed me), grabbed my lunch (Yuzu made rice balls) and approached them. They looked incredulous.

"So that's what you did yesterday, Huh." Ichi stated. Ruki nodded.

'What _did_ you do?' I questioned.

"Memory replacement. I wiped her memory of the night before and replaced it with a new one."

'You made her think there was a Sumo wrestler with a gun in her house?' Ruki sweat-dropped.

"It's impossible to control what replaces it, but it all just depends on the imagination of the soul on which it was cast." I nodded. Ichi, who was turned away from us, looked out across the school (we were on the roof).

"You used the same thing on my family the other day, didn't you."

"That's right, I did," Ruki admitted.

' Why didn't you use it on me, too?' I asked. This was one of those weird questions I didn't already know the answer to. Ruki shrugged.

"You had a high spiritual pressure; you would've just been attacked by another hollow and someone would have to explain everything to you again." She paused when Ichi didn't do anything else. "What's wrong?"

"I'm still not ready to actually commit to this or anything. Heh, I'm not so noble a person to promise to risk my life for a complete stranger just like that..." My body shook with a giggle.

'Yes, he is.' I signed, but I made sure Ruki was the only one to see it. She smiled kindly at me.

"On the other hand, though," Ichi continued, "I could never just stand around and watch while someone else was being hurt. So, I'll help you." He bravely stated, holding out his hand for a shake. I smiled, not even noticing that I was gripping his sleeve at his elbow. Ruki looked triumphant, yet happy, and relieved, all at the same time.

"At least I will for now. With this work of yours; as a Soul Reaper." Ruki took his hand,

"Good. I'm counting on you." Awww... I wish things would stay this peaceful.

. . .

Back at school, the next day, Ichi was complimenting Ruki on her healing skill, which gave her a big head. She kept going on and on about her knack in Kido and stuff, so I just zoned out. Well, at least until Ruki wanted to know how to drink from her juice box; that was one of my favorite parts in the entire series.

I giggled (silently. I'm not going to put that anymore, because I think you get the picture; Vocal Cords = ruined, Mao = silent) as Ichi tried to tell her about the straw.

"What straw?" She asked incredulously. When Mizuiro showed up with a rather bad joke about Ichi and Ruki being 'chummy', Ichi told him off.

"Shut up." My hero. Jeez, cranky much? Ruki finally found the straw, getting the attention of the newcomer.

"Hello," He greeted Ruki. She glittered in all of her acting.

"Hello," She chirped, "You're um... Mizuiro?"

"That's me! I guess we haven't been properly introduce: My name is Mizuiro Kogima. And I really like-"

"Picking up chicks," Ichi interrupted, drinking from his juice. I laughed so hard, I thought that _my_ juice would squirt out of my nose. Talk about embarrassing.

"Ichigo, That's not cool, man!" Mizuiro blinked. "Oh, people also think you look pretty 'Chummy' with Mao!" I felt my face get super red, like a tomato (someone call Sasuke, from Naruto). Luckily, Ichi kept cool. Sort of. Okay, he could at least say something (or sign).

"Gross, man! She's, like, my sister, or something." I nodded really quickly, my face still beat red.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure your dad wouldn't want you to live with your girlfriend, anyways," Mizuiro laughed. I tried signing something, but all I managed in my state of shock was something that looked like 'Incest, No! Incest, Gross!" That made Ruki sweat-drop and Ichi turn bright red, like me. Then Keigo showed up. Oh, Keigo.

"What's this? Rukia, the hot new transfer student, is hanging out with you two?" He fretted, looking betrayed. "How did that happen?"

I zoned out, like I usually do with something that involves Keigo.

"Hey Chad," Ichi greeted. I finally got out of my trance, noticing Chad for that first time.

'Oh, yeah,' I thought. 'This is the episode with the bird.' I really don't pay that much attention to what Chad, or Keigo, ever said, so I zoned out again. I found myself staring at the bird, my face blank. Chad set the bird down.

"My name is Huichi Subata, It's nice to meet you." The bird spoke. I winced; A bird got more lines than I did in this anime. Ichi and Ruki finally seemed to notice something supernatural about the bird. "What's your name?"

'Bout time,' Sloth whined/yawned in my head. 'I haven't even seen that anime, and I could tell right away something was up.'

'You're also at captain level,' Wrath retorted.

"That is amazing!" Keigo cried, "I mean, the way this bird can talk is phenomenal!" He then preceded to try and get the bird to say his name.

"So, Chad... How'd you get this bird?" Ichi inquired.

"Someone...Gave me him." Then Keigo flipped out, so I zoned out again. I only caught what Ruki said when she announced that they were going to have to do a Konso tonight. I giggled when Ichi finally helped Ruki with the juice.

"I gotta tell you, back in the eighth grade, when I first met Chad..." I rolled my eyes inwardly, pretending to listen. We all know the story of the kind giant. I sort of got sick of this episode because I showed it to my friend, after watching it twice before that.

"And Chad never fights back, no matter how much you egg him on."

'He is an odd one,' I commented.

"This juice tastes good!" Ruki exclaimed. I laughed so hard I began to choke on my juice.

. . .

I can't say Ichi and I got a warm welcome when we got home. Karin told us to move, while she and Yuzu carried boxes of medical supplies in their nurse uniforms.

"Where's they fire?" Ichi wondered. "So what's got you two so worked up?" Yuzu paused at the doorway.

"An accident. There was a big car wreck down at the corner!" Then we heard Isshin arguing on the phone. For once, he sounded totally professional.

The two of us crept in his office to see what he was so worked up about. We got there just in time to see him slam the phone down.

"H-Hey dad."

"Damn stupid idiots! They wouldn't know a stethoscope from a cell phone!" Isshin seethed.

"Is there anything I can do?" Ichi offered, feeling a little useless.

"No," Isshin snapped, "Just assume the Fetal position and stay out of the way!" He ordered. Ichi did just that, a dark aura surrounding him. I stood next to him, feeling out of place as well. I patted him on the head trying to comfort him.

He lifted up his head to glare at me. I smiled sheepishly. Then Ichi had to go help bring the last patient in, Chad. I saw the creeped-out look Karin had when she noticed the bird in the hand.

Everyone crowded around Chad as he sat on my bed, his shirt off, revealing the nasty wound.

"With this wound, you're going to have to take it easy for awhile-" Isshin began, swabbing the burn.

"That's good," Chad interrupted, pulling his shirt back on. "I'm fine, now." He stood up and began to walk away, despite the protests of Isshin.

"What? Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much blood you've lost, son?" As if on cue, Chad passed out.

'Well,' I signed, feeling a little awkward. 'Guess I'm sleeping on the couch.'

. . .

Since Karin was sick, Yuzu, Ichi, and I were the only ones eating breakfast when Isshin barged in the room.

"Chad's gone from his Room!" Ichi left to go find him, but I guess he was in_ such a _hurry_, _that he didn't wait for me. So, after telling Yuzu I would look somewhere else (like I was missing the action _this_ time. _Cha_) I took off.

Now that I think about it, it was probably best that I hadn't gone with Ichi. If we were together when he found Karin Ichi I would've had to been the one to take her home, since I couldn't fight (as Ichi believes), and then Ruki and Ichi could've beaten the hollow without Chad showing up, and then Chad would never have face this hollow. Fate would defiantly notice that.

For that most part, I stayed close to Ichi, but on a different street so he couldn't see me. When I sensed Ichi and Ruki split up, I ran to Ruki.

She heard me approaching her, so she stopped running so I could catch up.

"Mao? What are you doing?" I gave her a sheepish grin.

'I'm looking for Chad.' Then we heard the hollow.

"Mmmmm, you two smell good," it laughed manically. Ruki and I stood as still as possible, tense, ready to take action as soon as the hollow revealed himself. Ruki looked shocked when I became visible between us. "You smell wonderful... delicious... time to eat your soul!" It struck down on Ruki with its tongue, but she did a front hand spring. I had simply leapt forward, landing gracefully. I winced, hoping Ruki hadn't noticed. I guess she just wasn't use to her Gigai yet.

'You better be careful,' Wrath warned.

'Rukia can't know that you're a Paladin; try getting hurt one of these times,' Sloth suggested.

'Just shut up!' I snapped in my head.

"So... you're still alive. You're tougher than I thought," the hollow boomed. "And you can see me quite clearly. That makes me curious. Just who are you?" Ruki silenced him by jumping up, kneeing him in the face. As she was still moving up, she grabbed the hollow's head and flipped onto the back of its head.

"Ruler the mask of blood and flesh, all things of the universe that fly, that which names all. In the name of truth and temperance dig your claws into the wall of sinless dreams. Bakudo 33 Pale Fire Crash!" Ruki jumped up, shooting a ball of fire at the hollow. It erupted, a direct hit, and caused smoke to billow around the hollow, hiding it from view. Ruki looked satisfied as she lightly began to fall down. But then the hollow disrupted the smoke screen.

"Heheheh... I see, so that's what you are; I know that spell, that's a Soul Reaper spell. But yours was so weak, it had no bite to it. Too bad," The monster taunted, closing in on Ruki and opening its mouth wide. Ruki jumped back. I felt kind of ignored. But that was fine by me; but that feeling was short lived.

"What about you, little girl?" The hollow turned to me. "You smell goo too, are you a Soul Reaper?" For obvious reasons, I didn't say anything.

"Oh, but you two do smell do delicious. This is bringing back such wonderful memories. I've already had the pleasure to devour two other soul reapers who tried to help this boy pass on into the Soul Society. And I assure you, they were mighty good eating." I heard Sloth roll his eyes.

'Why does every villain feel the need to tell us their entire life story?' He whined.

"They boy... you mean that human soul inside the bird." Ruki concluded.

_'Noooo_,' Sloth spat, sarcastically. Wrath giggled (**A/N: I can't believe how many times I have written those two words next to each other. Can someone help me, and come up with a word for laughing? Not chuckling... that's for guys... and Yoruichi)**.

"That's right." The hollow congratulated.

"What's your problem? Why is it you pursue this poor kid so relentlessly? Tell me why?"

'God, Rukia,' Sloth moaned, 'Why would you _ask_ for the life story?'

"Maybe I would be more inclined to give you an answer if you were to let me have a little... nibble."

"You hollow scum!" Ruki spat.

'Like that would hurt his feelings. Seriously, what's the point of insulting a monster?' Sloth ranted.

'Hey...' I thought. 'That's the most you've ever said. I've never seen you get worked up enough to actually _care_.' He snorted.

'Just shut up.'

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took my so long to update, but I have been a little busy. See you next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm SO sorry I am so late. My twin sister and I went to a Basketball camp, overnight, for a whole week! And then, every week day since then, I've had basket ball and volleyball Practice. I'm so exhausted, but it's time I've updated. **

**Thank you so, so, very, very much for the Alerting, the Favoriting, and the Reviews. It makes me so happy!  
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**Enjoy!:**

Chapter 8

The hollow began to laugh menacingly. I gritted my teeth. How much was a my presence going to effect this fight? I could beat this guy; he was a low level hollow, but how could I do it with Ruki there? And I couldn't just ditch her, because if she doesn't fight this hollow, Fate would definitely know.

I thought about letting myself get hurt, but quickly shut that down. If I were to get hurt, then Ruki and Ichi wouldn't let me hang around for their battles anymore. I put my attention back on the current situation.

Ruki was slammed into the wall by the beast, its hand around her throat (and torso, since it's so big).

"You're weak," He teased, chuckling. "If you're really a Soul Reaper, then why don't you lose the meat suit and fight me for real? Either way... you die." I was just about to do something (don't ask me what) when I remembered not to. I watched as Chad literally came out of nowhere and punched the hollow, right in the face. It went flying, crashing down on the ground, groaning.

"I hit something," Chad exclaimed, getting as loud as he ever dare to again. "Alright..." He then began to punch thin air repeatedly, making Ruki sweat drop. I heard Wrath cackling so loud, I thought everyone could hear her.

The hollow, recovering, was wiping the injured part of his face, just like a normal person would. Everyone stood in a tense pose after Ruki told Chad he wasn't there anymore.

Then something I didn't expect happen. He went after me. I tried leaping to the side, but his claw wrapped itself around my waist, pinning my arms. Chad seemed to noticed my 'gasp', even though it was soundless. He would have hit the Hollow again if it hadn't taken flight, dragging me with it in the air. I squirmed, of course, but that did next to nothing.

"Mao!" Ruki gritted her teeth.

"Heh heh heh," The hollow chuckled, "I'll eat you first, little girl. You smell _delectable_." I shivered.

'Gross!' Wrath shrieked. What to do. what to do... I could use Bakudo, or call Wrath and Sloth and kill him that way... But I couldn't let Ruki or Chad see that. But if I stayed captive, I wouldn't get to join in on anymore fights... it would be just like the fight with Ori's older brother. I sighed, in my current situation...

I would just have to let Ruki and Chad handle this. But that didn't mean I couldn't struggle. His grip tightened considerably.

"Yes, you smell so good, Soul Reaper."

_'Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck..._' I managed to twist around so I could look at him... as he was about to take a bite out of my head. Wait... he thought I was a Soul Reaper? Hadn't Sloth said that Hollows can travel between worlds, so most of them know what Paladin are?

"I want to hear your wonderful screams for the rest of eternity!" I glanced down at the ground. Chad and Ruki was discussing something urgently (I hoped to God it was 'how to help Mao'. The next thing I saw, Chad breaking off the telephone pole... Oh, Please, please, please don't hit me!

"Be careful, you could hit Mao!" _Thank you, Ruki! _Chad swung the pole at an inhumane speed as he made contact. He missed me, smacking the hollow straight in the face. He brought it down to the ground, and me along with it. I closed my eyes and braced myself, but luckily, Ruki caught me. I was still in his tongue, but Ruki unwrapped it for me and jumped back to Chad's side with me in her arms. Inspecting me closely, she asked,

"Are you okay?" I nodded, signing,

'Thanks.' We turned our attention to the hollow, now crushed in a huge indent in the cement.

"You should be scared now, Hollow. The other Soul Reaper in on his way here right now to finish you for good," Ruki warned, smug. The hollow began to chuckle again, recovering very slowly.

"What's so funny?"

"Lazy Soul Reapers... It's no wonder you keep getting beaten and humiliated every time you battle." It gave us a smug look from behind, reminding me... I jumped back as far as I could as Ruki a Chad were barraged with hollow bugs. They were thrown to the ground, now unable to move. The monster eyed me.

"You're more perceptive than I thought... But you let your guard down too easily," He hissed, obviously enjoying himself. Stupid me. He made _more_ bugs come from behind me, just like before, but I didn't know about these. I was held to the ground, right next to Ruki. The hollow laughed.

"You Soul Reapers take us too lightly; that's the reason you keep dying. Now you're being held face down, _defenseless_. I think I'll eat the tasty Soul Reapers for last." With a monstrous roar, Chad rose, flinging the frog sized Hollows off and away. Ruki and the hollow stared at him in wonder.

In real life, that moment seemed a dozen more times impressive. I couldn't even struggle, and here he was, getting free from things he could not see. I needed to step it up.

Chad's 'moment' turned ridiculous when he punched thin air again... and again... Until Ruki said,

"Over here Chad! Kick the air right above us!" Chad obliged, smacking off the beasts that were holding us down. We stood up quickly, me brushing off my uniform to keep what dignity I had left. Turning to the hollow, I saw him take off into the sky. Then Ruki revealed that she had a plan...

When Chad held her up, I sweat-dropped. I would have told her she looked ridiculous, but she wasn't looking at me, so there was no way to get her attention. Plus, I couldn't change the plot... But Wrath's cackling was really getting on my nerves.

"I'm not sure this is the best idea..." Chad said.

"Don't worry, combining your brute strength and my intelligence is our best shot." I pouted. What did I have? Incredible sexiness and cunning? Not that I don't, but I haven't really done anything, yet. Still, she could have said _something_ about me.

"There! At four O'clock!"

"I'll have you know, whatever you're planning is-"

"Fire!" Chad launched Ruki at the flying best, surprising the heck out of it. Or... as he tried to make her think.

"Oh! Oh no!" He cowered in fear. "Oh- Just kidding." More bugs emerged from his skin, leaping out a Ruki and causing her to fall back to the ground. Chad took a running start to go catch her. He made it in time, but he had to dive.

I rushed over to their side, kneel beside Ruki to try and help pry the bugs off. I knew they wouldn't come off, but hey, I was acting.

"Are these leeches?"

"Exactly," the hollow laughed as he landed, catching our attention. "Pry if you like, but they won't come off. And you'll find that they have a nasty little habit... of exploding!" The Hollow stuck out its special tongue, sending off sound waves. Ruki's eyes widened as one blow up on her head.

"Oh no! New Girl!" Chad cried, worried. He couldn't see, couldn't even hear the Hollow, so he must have been totally lost.

Chad stood up and approached the hollow, serious.

"Oh, you want some more, ay Hot shot? Well, I've got someone you may want to see!" The hollow stepped to the side to reveal the bird, in his cage, in the middle of the sidewalk.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. I was trying to call for you." The little boy said shamefully. The hollow chuckled. revealing that he had three leech bombs on his cage.

"Now let's play a new game. Muscle head stays put... While I play tags with the two Soul Reapers." Ruki narrowed her eyes. Standing up, she said,

"Do as he says. He'll blow up the bird, without a doubt, and at least the chase will keep you safe."

"What about you two?" Ruki smirked, and put my arms on my hips.

"Don't worry, we can take care of ourselves. I made a promise... We'll be just fine. I'll make sure of it." With that, she took off, my close behind her.

I was a little touched. Ruki had made a promise to Ichi in the show that she would be careful, and alright... but it sounded like now she promised to be careful and protect me. Awww!

A dozen cat sized hollows began to follow us as we were separated from Chad.

"I'm going to enjoy every second of this." The hollow laughed, also joining in the chase. I noticed I was considerably faster than Ruki, probably since she was injured. In no time, two hollows flanked us on both sides, spewing leeches at us. Ruki leapt high in the air, while I dove to the side, so that I was no longer in between them. Ruki landed on a tree branch, that also had hollows on it, which were hidden in the leafs. She jumped back to the ground, covered in leeches.

Mean while, I was cornered by the two that had missed us earlier on the ground. I backed up as far as I could, hitting a wall with my back. Suddenly, I heard a clicking sound above me... Looking up, I saw a Hollow stuck to the wall, above me. He shot leeches, directly hitting me. Shit... I retreated next Ruki, covered in slime. Then the Large Hollow appeared from nowhere, saying,

"This might sting a little." He detonated the bugs, blowing me and Ruki. She grunted in pain, and I dropped to my knees, unable to stand. Ruki had gotten hit in the arm, leg, and shoulder, while I had been hit in the waist, head, and back. I glanced at her through half closed eyes. There was blood dripping from her wounds, so she began to lean against a fence. I felt my head, where I was undoubtedly bleeding as well. Both of us were breathing heavily, when the hollow said,

"My, my, don't you two look pretty, covered in your own blood. Let's see some more!" He then threw a mini hollow at us, but I scrambled to my feet just in time as Ruki grabbed my wrist and led me down the street.

"Faster, Faster, faster! Ha, run, you little Soul Reapers, run!" The hollow followed close at our heels, throwing mini hollows at our feet. They burst at contact with the ground, making leeches fly in every direction. The Hollow continued to mock us.

"How long before you get tired and get blown up?" But then, Ruki Stopped. She still had my hand in hers, so I stopped too. The hollow looked confused.

"Huh? Done already?" Ruki and I smirked, but we still weren't facing him, which probably made him mad. "How boring, run some more! It's not every day I get to chase Soul Reapers; I was having fun!" He whined, though he didn't approach us any farther. I turned around to face the hollow, but Ruki still had her back to him. Hey, I wanted to see his face, alright?

"I haven't given up. There's just no need for me to run from you anymore." Ruki told him. I laughed on the inside. It sort of felt like she was giving him the finger, but with her words.

'Ruki's so cool!' Wrath all but shrieked.

"What are you blabbering about?" The hollow demanded.

"You challenged me to fight you, didn't you? Or was that just an idiotic bluff?" She finally turned around. "Either way, you're about to meet your doom." The hollow tensed.

Wrath actually did shriek when Ichi came in.

"Hold on!" He exclaimed, stepping on the hollow's head, and digging him in the dirt.

"Perfect timing, Ichigo!" I smiled at him, relieved that I actually wouldn't have to show Ruki my Paladin powers. In all honesty, I wasn't nearly as strong as Hotaru had been, which was about Captain level, but I would still have been able to beat this guy. Hopefully, If I just kept sticking to the plot, every battle would end up like this one.

"You act like you planned it this way!" Ichi accused, sounding irritated. "I thought you promised not to screw this all up!"

"Well now, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually care about what happens to not just Mao, but me, too." She teased. I could see the relief in her eyes.

"I guess I do."

"Heh, How touching," The hollow interrupted. "Do you plan on standing on my head all day?" He began to stand up, so Ichi jumped off and landed a few yards behind him. "Just who are you, anyway?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Age fifteen, Substitute Soul Reaper. And if you want to play some serious tag, I think it's me you wanna chase."

"Substitute Soul Reaper... Crap... I screwed up!" I scoffed, which caught his attention. I didn't know if he knew sign language or not, but at least Ruki and Ichi would know what I had said. However, judging from the look on his face, I was pretty sure he knew what I had said. And he looked really surprised that I couldn't talk.

'Yes. Yes, you did screw up. Big time.'

**An/ I'm soo sorry I haven't up dated this in so long. To be honest, I sort of forgot about it because My life has been so hectic lately. My parents are really... what's the word... I don't know, but they get obsessive sometimes. If me and my sister aren't the best, we're the worst... or, whatever. They really pressure us into practicing our sports A LOT! But I'm just complaining cause I got in a fight, so I'm kinda blowing of some steam. And I know that's no excuse for being so late with this update, so I apologize.**

** ! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!**

** ~Mao**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! I'm not dead! I know it's taken me forever, but here is the ninth chapter to 'A Second Life.'**

**Thank you so much to those who reviewed, it means a lot. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

The hollow attempted to hit Ruki and Ichi with more bugs, so Ruki jumped up and, with her red glove on, separated Ichi from his body, just as they exploded. Smoke was everywhere, so I couldn't see. Just then, The hollow flew above our heads, only to be sliced by a leaping Ichi. When the smoke cleared, the hollow was on the ground, bleeding, Ichi was a Soul Reaper, and Ruki was holding his body.

"Heheheh..." The hollow taunted, "You're too slow. But I can tell you soul is gonna be tastey."

I listened to Ichi's amazing deduction, before he said,

"What a coward. Time to pay!" I swear I was laughing the hardest I ever had in my whole life.

"The only price I'm going t pay is indigestion!" Scratch that; now I was laughing harder. "After I've eaten three more soul reapers!"

Then our main hero and the villain ran off to do battle. Ruki and I were with an Ichi body, which I was holding up on my knees, when Chad saw us.

"Ichigo!" He panicked. "What's wrong?!"

"There you are," Ruki said in relief.

'Don't worry about him,' I signed, letting Ichi lean against my chest to free my hands. 'Just get that bird out of here.'

"What's going on? What's with Ichigo?" He questioned. Ruki turned back towards the way the Orange hair boy had disappeared in.

"Ichigo is fine."

'He's fighting to protect us all,' I added, smiling proudly.

O o O

Later, I heard the sad story and apology of the bird. Ruki was horrified that he could believe that his mother would come back to life and Chad was... silent.

Ruki left me with Ichi's body and Chad to go 'help' Ichi, against my protest. She wouldn't get there until after the hollow was dead, so that she could strategically be there to explain what the Gates of the Underworld was for... good planning.

But Chad is so boring!

... The next day...

During breakfast, Yuzu and Karin were questioning Ichi's well-being, like good little sisters. Well, just Yuzu. There was a whole charade about how strange he was, and how much he'd been eating, (and a nice... analogy of just what he was doing by Isshin) when Ichi appeared and kick his father. I laughed as hard as I did yesterday.

"What's wrong with a little Parental Understanding?" Isshin questioned gravely, making a funny face.

"Understanding my ass!" Ichi exclaimed as the two wrestled.

"Guys, your breakfast is going to get cold!"

'Quiet morning, huh?'

...at school...

Ruki had just stolen Ichi from class break, so of course, I followed.

"Here," She said, tossing Ichi what looked like a PEZ dispenser.

'Oh, great. _This _episode,' I thought. I wasn't much of a Kon fan. I watched in fake curiosity as Ichi swallowed a pill. HE popped out of his body, but it never fell.

"Hi, good afternoon!" Kon greeted, "Nice to meet you, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Early to bed, early to rise, that's my motto." I laughed so hard, I was pretty sure everyone hear me suck in the air.

"Early to bed, early to WHAT?!" Ichi exclaimed, shocked.

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" Ruki said, looking smug.

"Amazing my ass!" I heard Wrath and even Sloth fall apart in laughter. Just then Ruki's soul pager went off.

"Perfect timing. We just got a mission. Why don't we leave him here at school with Mao." For once I didn't argue about staying behind.

'They don't know what they're missing,' I thought as Ruki dragged Ichi off to battle.

"Don't worry, leave everything to me, master," Kon laughed, still pretending. He didn't break character yet, I noticed, because I was still there. I smirked.

'Why don't you get use to your body?' I signed, smiling. Kon blinked. Oh yeah, I forgot; he didn't know I couldn't talk. I shurg and head back to class, leaving him there.

When I got to the class room, I watched him stretch through the window. No one else seemed to notice him. I saw the Kendo instructor confront him. Kon jumped over his head and landed on a low ceiling, shocking him. Then he jumped to the roof, where we ate lunch.

But today, just as lunch started, I ate with Orihime and Tatsuki, who didn't respond well to Kon jumping into our window (Which was hard to slid open, mind you.)

"Excuse me," Kon asked, "This is the ninth grade class, group three, right?

"Wait a second!" Tatsuki exclaimed, "How the hell did you get up here like that?"

"What do you mean, how? I jumped up." This caused a huge controversy, which made him grin excitedly for a second when no one was looking. He didn't seem to notice me, but he was all over Ori. Needless to say, he was attacked by Tatsuki.

"Hey, you're pretty cute, too, now that I look at you!" And Tatsuki blew it.

Ruki probably came to Kon's rescue, but he didn't realize it. Instead, he freaked when Ichi got here, kicked him across the classroom, and jumped out of the window.

Ruki looked at me.

`"What exactly happened that went wrong," She asked, exasperated. I shrugged, smiling innocently.

Later, Wrath told me that this was her favorite 'episode'.

**I'm sooooo sorry this is soooooo short! But I needed to update, and I'm short on time today. I promise the next chapter will be longer. Thanks for reading, and I apologize.**


	10. Chapter 10AN

Hey guys. I'm sorry to inform you that, with Basketball here (practically my life), and some weird times with my family, I'll probably only have time for one or two of my stories. This will not be one of them.

I'm not happy with the way this is turning out, so maybe I'll eventually rewrite it. However, through a serious discussion with myself, I realized something; I think I stopped liking Bleach.

I don't hate it or anything, and I use to be a huge fan, but since I started watching a LOT more anime, I saw so many holes, and things I disliked with this series, I stopped enjoying it like I used to. I really don't want to force myself to write this, so I won't; **this story is officially on a short Hiatus.**

I'm so much happier with my other two stories (I have three others, but I will only seriously continue with those two). I feel a little embarrassed when I read this one over again. This fanfic does not define me as a writer, and I sincerely hope you don't think it does.

Maybe you can check the others out, if you're a fan of Hunter X Hunter and Naruto. They're called 'Spirit Raven' and 'Nightwalker'. Anyway,** I would like to thank a few of you for your support**, meaning all of those who reviewed, favorited, followed, PM'd me, or just simply read this.

I apologize for all of my mistakes and such.

As for putting this up for adoption... I'll think about it. Review, or PM me, or something.

Thank you, and goodbye (maybe not forever),

_**MaoIsSleepy**_


	11. AN

Hey, guys! I just want to let you guys know that I'm leaving this up for _**Nati Hallow**_ so she can use it. She adopted it, so go check hers out once it's up!

I would really like to thank her.

Anyway, I might continue this if I ever feel like it, so I'm leaving it up. Sorry to all the fans out there, but Nati Hallow has such great plans for the future of this story. She obviously thought further ahead for this than I did.

Bye bye!

_**~Mao**_


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